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Dr. NakaMats is the coolest 80-year-old man ever. I just recently discovered that Hulu has a great selection of documentaries. I've seen all of the good ones that Netflix and Amazon have to offer, so I moved over to Hulu and I'm surprised at how many I've added to my queue. The Invention of Dr. NakaMats, though, is my favorite so far. There's a preview on YouTube. Dr. Nakamats is the inventor of the floppy disk among many, many other things. He holds over 3,000 patents, thousands more than Thomas Edison who had a over 1,000.It's awesome that he invented so many things, but that's not what's so interesting about him--it's his personality. He's unintentionally hilarious, and has a great sense of humor when he's trying to be funny. He only eats one meal a day, and his latest invention (as of the filming) is a bra for small breasted women. What a character. Do yourself a favor, get a free Hulu account and watch this documentary.

I drink several brands of tea, and one of my favorites is the Good Earth brand. Their "Matcha Maker" green tea with matcha is awesome. Their tea bags have a tag/label with their brand name and an inspiring quote beneath it. They're all pretty good, but I have three here that are my favorites:

"If people are trying to bring you down, it only means you are above them." ―Unknown

"Never hate people who are jealous of you, they think that you're better than them." ―Unknown

Okay, so it's been five months and one week, but who's counting? Oh yeah, I am! I haven't had a cigarette in FIVE WHOLE MONTHS! I never thought I'd quit. I was just talking to my sister who still smokes, and I asked her if she had ever thought I would quit. She said no, she never thought I would quit, and if I did, she would quit long before me. Well, look who made it through five long months without smoking a cigarette! I'm pretty proud of myself. I was a pretty heavy smoker at a little over a pack a day, and I had trouble doing anything without having a cigarette beforehand. Actually, I had trouble doing anything without knowing I could have a cigarette break or the promise of a cigarette afterward. And coffee. Forget it. I never thought I'd be able to drink a cup of coffee without a cigarette... or seven. But I'm sitting here typing this with a cup of coffee next to my laptop, no cigarette in sight.When I was with my sister the other day, we had been shopping at WalMart, and afterward she said she needed a cigarette. Who wouldn't? WalMart is a zoo. I smelled the cigarette she lit and I expressed out loud my satisfaction in having quit, and that I couldn't imagine smoking again. I can't. The thought of a cigarette makes my stomach turn. Which is a definite good thing. I don't want to smoke again. Lots of people say that if they were told they only had a month to live, no matter how long they had been quit, they would buy a carton of cigarettes and smoke to their death. I wouldn't. Absolutely not.Everything smells better, especially my hair and clothes and house. I don't have to open windows in the dead of winter. I don't have to constantly chew gum or brush my teeth. I don't have to take two showers a day. I don't have to take cigarette breaks. I can taste food again, and I've discovered that I don't like certain things like buffalo wings because my taste buds can't handle the spice now that they've been stripped of the tar and nicotine. I can smell everything again, and like taste, I don't like the smell of certain things anymore. Stale smoke smell being the worst of all, but I can smell every person who just had a cigarette no matter what they do to cover the smell. It's gross.Who would've thought I'd reach this milestone? I sure didn't think I'd make it. But I did, and I'm totally happy. The first few weeks are the hardest, but I still do catch a craving every once in awhile. When I do, I just remember how expensive and smelly it was, and how hard it was to breathe. This is awesome. If you're quitting, stick with it. It's totally worth the hassle, bad moods, and impatience. You can do it. Here's to another five months.

I subscribe to a men's fashion blog called Four Pins, and I used to love it. I read it every day since its inception, but I got one too many doses of the word "alphets" thanks to yesterday's e-mail digest. I don't know if they think they're cool or just trying too hard to be funny, but using the non-words "alphets" or "alphet" or "alphits" or "alfits" to replace "outfits" is unacceptable. It made me so mad that I unsubscribed from their e-mails. I can't stand seeing "alphets" in an otherwise intelligent blog. Here is the blog that broke the camel's back:

Long sleeve polos were very much my thing in junior high. Shit like that and rugby shirts paired with incredibly baggy khaki pants was the maneuver for a few years straight. I remember I thought a white polo like this Palace shirt, khakis and a Tigers hat worn backwards was the fucking truth when it came to alphets. I also remember hemp necklaces making sporadic appearances. Remember hot girls that made hemp necklaces? If I had a kid and he came home from school with a hemp necklace on I'd be like, "Ah, I see you, seed. You trying to get some under-the-shirt-over-the bra action at a 7:30 showing of Happy Gilmore? Just remember, not all hemp necklaces last forever, nah mean?" Yeah, I would be a pretty shitty dad.

I'm over this bullshit. Spell words as they were meant to be spelled and stop making up your own weird pop culture zeitgeist shit. It's even on Urban Dictionary, which makes it more idiotic. No one thinks it's funny. It only makes you look stupid. Stop it!

For those of you who don't know, Tom Ford is a fashion designer. He has his own line now, but once worked for Gucci and helped it along aesthetically. So, there's that.What I'm really focused on is that the man in the picture above is 52, soon to be 53. Despite the receding hairline, which looks great on him (or which he makes look great), he looks to be in his 30's. I'd like some of whatever he's using to preserve himself. I really don't think his boyfriend has anything to do with it. Take a look and see why.He was one of People magazine's most beautiful people in 1997, and still is in my book.

The rumor mill was churning today, and begged me to take notice. I hate Kim Jong-un with a passion. What a douche. He is not a leader, but a dictator. That old rumor mill was spouting bits about Mr. Jong-un making his own personal hairstyle and cut the only style and cut available to male undergrads in North Korea. Imagine a country full of black haired Macklemores. I wasn't at all surprised, but on a search for more information, I found out this rumor was probably just that -- a rumor. Damn. I definitely wanted another reason to hate this guy. He's so hate-able already. Oh, and I finally got an opportunity to use my favorite photo of him above. Don't worry, though, because I'm pretty sure everyone still hates this guy. What a goober.

I love coats, sweaters, sweatshirts, hoodies, gloves, long-sleeve shirts and pants. I love layering. All of that goes away at the onset of spring. And wouldn't it figure that it would warm up right after I got a great deal on a beautiful Nautica coat. Fuck.I don't particularly like the cold, nor do I like numb extremities, but I do like bundling them up in beautiful things. Clothes are like armor, and I like wearing lots of armor. You can't do that in spring and summer. Fuck again.The only good thing about summer is light and open windows. I hate shorts and I hate flip-flops even more.At least I'll have an awesome coat for next winter.

I'm kind of in awe of the article I just read in the Guardian about Impostor Syndrome, which has apparently been studied for years. I had never heard of it, but immediately identified with its subject, feeling like a fraud.When I was moving through the ranks of business, when I was employed in that realm, no matter how many promotions I got, I felt I would never be good enough, that there was always someone better. Same with writing. I always feel like what I write is crap, and there will be someone waiting in the sidelines to write a scathing critique, and consider someone else superior. It's inescapable for me.So, having read this article, I am finally validated in my feeling like this. I've never heard it talked about before, and now I have a starting point for researching this phenomenon of Impostor Syndrome and how it has affected my life.

Two US sociologists, Jessica Collett and Jade Avelis, wanted to know why so many female academics opt for "downshifting": setting out towards a high-status tenured post, then switching to something less ambitious. Contrary to received wisdom, their survey of 460 doctoral students revealed that it wasn't to do with wanting a "family-friendly" lifestyle. Instead, impostorism was to blame. They also uncovered a nasty irony. It's long been known that impostorism afflicts more women than men – one of many reasons that institutions match younger women academics with high-ranking female mentors. But some survey responses suggested those mentors might make things worse, because students felt like impostors compared with them. "One said she suspected her mentor was secretly Superwoman," Science Careers magazine reported. "How could she ever live up to that example?"This is only one of impostorism's frustrating ironies. Another is that true frauds and idiots rarely seem to experience it. ("The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt," said Bertrand Russell.) Arguably the worst one, though, is that getting better at your job won't fix it. Achieve promotions, or win accolades, and you'll just have more cause to feel like a fake. Enhance your knowledge, and as you expand the perimeter of what you know, you'll be exposed to more and more of what you don't. Impostorism, as Pacific Standard magazine put it recently, "is, for many people, a natural symptom of gaining expertise". Move up the ranks and if your field's even vaguely meritocratic, you'll encounter more talented people to compare yourself negatively against. It never stops. "I have written 11 books, but each time I think, 'Uh-oh, they're going to find [me] out now,'" as some low-profile underachiever named Maya Angelou once said.Read the FULL ARTICLE...

So, CVS has announced it will rid itself of all tobacco products and stop all sales by October 1st.This is a great idea, and the way I see it, it won't affect them all that much. They are already the most expensive drug store chain in America, charging several more dollars per product than other chains like Rite Aid and even Walgreens.Let's face it, shopping at the drug store should only be done in convenience emergencies. Like, you have to pick up your script after work and you're too tired/lazy to go to the grocery store to pick up that box of Cheerios.I worked for one of the above mentioned chains for YEARS, and I know how their supply chain works. Trust me, you only want to buy food at a drug store in an EMERGENCY. Seriously.So yeah, good for CVS. Cigs have always been cheaper at Wawa anyway.

"CVS Caremark, the giant drugstore chain, deserves a big round of applause for deciding to phase out the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products at its more than 7,600 stores by Oct. 1. The decision will cost the company a substantial amount of money but will place CVS where it and other pharmacy chains belong — on the side of customer health and against a product that still kills 480,000 Americans a year."Read more from the New York Times...

Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of my favorite actors. To say he was a great actor is an understatement. He was amazing. He was also human, and struggled with and was taken down by the demon of addiction. He was found in his apartment today with a needle dangling from his arm.I don't know what to say. I really don't. Except he was not alone in his addiction or his struggle. The problem with addiction is that in the end, you do feel absolutely and disparagingly alone. I wonder what he was thinking as he pushed for the last time. I just hope and pray that the heroin took away that last bit of pain. I hope it was peaceful.Rest in peace, Mr. Hoffman. You were loved, and it will be impossible to forget you.

I feel awesome. It feels so good to be unbound and freed of cigarettes. It's like a prison whose bars are made of smoke. I loved smoking, but I hated it all the same. It stinks, it yellows teeth and fingernails, it costs a fortune, it stinks up rooms and cars and hair and clothes, it takes up time and mental energy, it causes depression, it turns you mad when you first try to quit, it takes away the ability to breathe freely, it clogs the lungs with tar, ashes make their way into every crack and crevice of life, and did I mention they cost a fortune?Cigarettes are terrible cancer-causing little assholes, and today I've been rid of them for 90 days. THREE MONTHS! I am so proud of myself, and so grateful. If I hadn't had such wonderful support, quitting may not have been possible. I am so happy to be a non-smoker.I'd like to thank you, whoever you are, for being there as a reader. The ability to write to you here has been incredibly cathartic, and has been a great help in quitting. I'm a non-smoker! (Smober as they say in nicotine recovery.) WOOOHOOOOOOO!

I love you, Sarah Paulson. (And you're gay, yay!) (And she was on my favorite radio show this morning, Elvis Duran!) You make an amazing supreme, and you couldn't have looked any better in last night's Coven finale. Seriously, didn't she look amazing? I did not see it coming, but it totally makes sense that Cordelia, being Jessica Lange's daughter and all, would be next in line for the title of supreme. (I have to admit, I thought it was going to be Misty Day (Lily Rabe). And, aww, Jessica Lange, even when you're dying you look beautiful.But you woke up in hell, looking sleepy, but gorgeous... "KNOTTY PINE!!!!!" My favorite line of the night. "Balenciagaaaaaaa!" was my second favorite line. Third was "open the doors." Knotty pine was just amazingly hilarious, though, even though my poor Fiona was in hell.I almost forgot about Stevie Nicks. Holy shit. That was epic, and Seven Wonders is my favorite song.Here she is talking about it and being fabulous.This blog is so poorly written, I'm sorry, I'm just so excited! And sad that it's over, but EXCITED! Oh, it was so good!Myrtle Snow, played by Frances Conroy, was amazing at all times. She compared something awful to Halston selling his line to JCPenney which made me laugh my ass off. Oh my God, I will miss this season! SO MUCH!!!I can't wait for what's next, and I hope they reuse the cast of Coven. Most importantly Cordelia, Fiona, Myrtle, and Kyle (Evan Peters). I have a major crush on Evan Peters; however, I hate that he's dating that Madison (Emma Roberts) girl. Even if she's the nicest person ever in real life, I'll always hate her because of her character Madison. Irrational? You betcha!But, then again, I'm a fan of American Horror Story. What's rational about that?P.S. Thank you, Ryan Murphy, for another amazing season! I can't wait to see what's next!P.P.S. Aaaahhhh! I can't believe it's over!! What will I do until season 4!?)P.P.P.S Sorry for gay-ing out on you like that. It's just what I do when I'm excited, natch.Here's Stevie!....

The transportation coordination app Uber has been embroiled in scandal lately. It was said that one of their drivers hit a family of immigrants crossing the street in San Francisco, killing a young child. While the driver was used by the Uber service, there were no paying passengers in the car at the time of the accident, which Uber says places them out of the scope of responsibility. There have been other gripes about pricing, regulation, and other crap, but the bottom line is this: the Uber app is a great idea that turned into a great business regardless of the controversies it is facing.There are pitfalls to any venture in business, but especially if that business involves driving. Driving is dangerous to and for everyone, that's why we pay a fortune for car insurance, and why driving is so heavily regulated. Uber did not sidestep any regulations intentionally as it seems that cities don't know how to classify the business of Uber let alone regulate it.As new technologies and services arise, the powers that be need to adapt to incorporate these things into similar industries that already exist, making sure that it can function without being bogged down by government. People who think that Uber should be shut down or mercilessly attacked must not know their history. Many, many businesses faced huge controversy at the start, and because of those controversies it was changed and formed into a safe, successful, and profitable entity.Sure, Uber needs to make changes and tweak its model to "fit" into society. It's a great service, so I think we need to help guide it instead of calling for its closure. Look at it for what it's worth: a much-needed service dedicated to convenience. I am sorry for the loss of that immigrant family, but I don't think Uber is really at fault. Any other criticism is criticism that any business faces. That being said, I wish Uber all the luck in the world.Oh, and I hear the CEO is getting testy in interviews. I would too if my brand was being attacked. Stay strong, Travis Kalanick! You'll make it through!

I'll start by saying that I hate football. There is no place in my life for football, and I am always outraged after catching a glimpse of the salaries these men are awarded for doing bullshit work. (Read: I'm completely fucking jealous of football players not only for the amount of money that they make, but because they can perform physically like I could never dream of.) Football makes me bitter and holds no entertainment value whatsoever.But wait! I stumbled across this YouTube channel called Bad Lip Reading! Life changing. Fucking hilarious. Football has made a reentry into my universe in a blaze of glory, and my life will never be the same. The video above is my favorite, but there are others. Don't watch it at work unless you're on break because you WILL laugh out loud. Hard. I'm not exaggerating. Enjoy!

The High Line is a park developed by NYC's Department of Parks and Recreation as a solution to the problem of an abandoned elevated freight rail line. It is developed and maintained by a non-profit organization called Friends of the High Line.

I am in the midst of making plans to visit New York City this spring after having stumbled across The High Line Park website earlier today. Few things catch my interest as much as this incredible idea for a park built on an abandoned rail line elevated to pass over city streets full of traffic below. What a brilliant solution to a tough problem.As the city takes the shape of the needs of the current residents, there are bound to be problems that arise. Instead of investing good money into tearing down the elevated rail, it was thought that this could be the site of a public park in a locale where real estate is a commodity few can afford, and where green space is scarce.Here is a history of the High Line as it is posted on their website:1847 The City of New York authorizes street-level railroad tracks down Manhattan’s West Side. 1851 – 1929 So many accidents occur between freight trains and street-level traffic that 10th Avenue becomes known as Death Avenue. For safety, men on horses, called the West Side Cowboys, ride in front of trains waving red flags. 1929 After years of public debate about the hazard, the City and State of New York and the New York Central Railroad agree on the West Side Improvement Project, which includes the High Line. The entire project is 13 miles long, eliminates 105 street-level railroad crossings, and adds 32 acres to Riverside Park. It costs over $150 million in 1930 dollars—more than $2 billion today. 1934 The High Line opens to trains. It runs from 34th Street to St. John’s Park Terminal, at Spring Street. It is designed to go through the center of blocks, rather than over the avenue, to avoid creating the negative conditions associated with elevated subways. It connects directly to factories and warehouses, allowing trains to roll right inside buildings. Milk, meat, produce, and raw and manufactured goods come and go without causing street-level traffic. 1950s Growth of interstate trucking leads to a drop in rail traffic, nationally and on the High Line. 1960s The southernmost section of the High Line is demolished. 1980 The last train runs on the High Line pulling three carloads of frozen turkeys. Mid-1980s A group of property owners lobbies for demolition of the entire structure. Members of this group own land under the High Line that was purchased at prices reflecting the High Line's easement. Peter Obletz, a Chelsea resident, activist, and railroad enthusiast, challenges demolition efforts in court and tries to re-establish rail service on the Line. 1999 Friends of the High Line is founded by Joshua David and Robert Hammond, residents of the High Line neighborhood, to advocate for the High Line's preservation and reuse as public open space. 2001 - 2002 The Design Trust for Public Space provides a fellowship for architect Casey Jones to conduct research and outreach for "Reclaiming the High Line," a planning study jointly produced by the Design Trust and Friends of the High Line, which lays out planning framework for the High Line's preservation and reuse. March 2002 Friends of the High Line gains first City support—a City Council resolution advocating for the High Line's reuse. October 2002 A study done by Friends of the High Line finds that the High Line project is economically rational: New tax revenues created by the public space will be greater than the costs of construction. December 2002 The City files with the federal Surface Transportation Board for railbanking, making it City policy to preserve and reuse the High Line. January – July 2003 An open ideas competition, "Designing the High Line," solicits proposals for the High Line's reuse. 720 teams from 36 countries enter. Hundreds of design entries are displayed at Grand Central Terminal. (View Competition Entries)

July 2003 Friends of the High Line and the City jointly testify before the Surface Transportation Board in support of High Line reuse. March – September 2004 Mayor Bloomberg announces City funding for the High Line. Friends of the High Line and the City of New York conduct a process to select a design team for the High Line. The selected team is James Corner Field Operations, a landscape architecture firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, an architecture firm, and experts in horticulture, engineering, security, maintenance, public art, and other disciplines. (View the High Line Design)

September 2004 The State of New York, CSX Transportation, Inc. (the railroad company), and the City of New York jointly file with the Surface Transportation Board to railbank the High Line. April 2005 An exhibition showcasing the preliminary design by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro opens at the Museum of Modern Art. June 2005 The Surface Transportation Board issues a Certificate of Interim Trail Use for the High Line, authorizing the City and railroad to conclude railbanking negotiations. November 2005 The City takes ownership of the High Line from CSX Transportation, Inc., (which donates the structure), and the City and CSX sign a Trail Use Agreement. Taken together, these two actions effectively preserve the High Line south of 30th Street. April 2006 Groundbreaking is celebrated on the High Line with the lifting of a rail track. The first phase of construction on Section 1 of the High Line begins. Construction begins on Section 1 (Gansevoort Street to 20th Street). Tracks, ballast, and debris are removed, and the tracks are mapped, tagged, and stored (some will be reinstalled in the park landscape). This is followed sandblasting of steel, repairs to concrete and drainage systems, and installation of pigeon deterrents underneath the Line. (View Construction Photos)

2008 Landscape Construction begins on Section 1, with construction and installation of pathways, access points, seating, lighting, and planting. June 2008 Final designs are released for the High Line's transformation to a public park. (View the Final Designs)

June 9, 2009 Section 1 (Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street) opens to the public. June 8, 2011 Section 2 (West 20th Street to West 30th Street) opens to the public. April 25, 2012 The New York City Planning Commission votes unanimously to approve a zoning text amendment that secures the eastern portion of the High Line at the Rail Yards, including the 10th Avenue Spur, as public open space. July 25, 2012 The High Line at the Rail Yards is saved. The City of New York acquires the title to the third and final section of the High Line from CSX Transportation, Inc., which donated the final portion of the structure to the City. September 20, 2012 Groundbreaking is celebrated on the High Line at the Rail Yards. Construction proceeds in three phases, with the first phase projected to open in 2014.Spring 2014 Nick's first visit to The High Line. (Hopefully Mike will join me--I haven't asked him yet!)I really can't wait to visit. Spring can't come soon enough! The main images above and below this entry link to The High Line Organization website. All the information you need can be found there.

The High Line before the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and Friends of the High Line started work.

I'm not a huge fan of Glenn Beck, but I really appreciated this discussion about the Common Core. The Common Core will dictate what every student in the United States should know at the end of each grade from Kindergarten through 12th grade. In this YouTube segment, it is implied that Bill Gates (Microsoft), Yahoo, and Google are dumping millions of dollars into funding for the Common Core Initiative so that students will be educated in the ways of working for Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and the like.Students, under the direction of teachers who have been taught everything they need to know to prepare students for work in technology related fields, will be funneled into huge corporations as employees that push power to the higher ranks. This will ensure that competition in the form of new upstarts will cease, and these already powerful corporations will become more powerful, and are guaranteed that power for years to come.This scares the hell out of me. Topics like this have been written about by authors for centuries, and the books they produce have been labeled as dystopian fiction. This isn't fictional, this is real. Welcome to the United Corporations of America.Further reading: Common Core Initiative Page, Wikipedia Common Core Page

The following are the nominees for the 2014 Academy Awards (the ones I care about) announced by Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, on Thursday. For some strange reason, she was joined by "Hunger Games" actor Chris Hemsworth. Weird. I wonder who he had to screw to get that spot... Anyway, The Academy Awards will air live on ABC on March 2, starting at 7 p.m. ET. Share your picks in the comments.CNN Coverage | Official Oscar Site

"People can do heroin for 10, 20, 30 years and then they get 5-12 days of treatment...that is inhumane." ―Chris Herren

I do agree that treatment of addiction in America is severely lacking. It's mostly the result of the misplacement of the responsibility governing models and standards of treatment into the hands of people who don't understand addiction. Into the hands of people who think that addiction can be swept under the rug, and the responsibility of government and the health care industry fulfilled by shuffling addicts into week or two-week long inpatient treatment centers, followed by a few weeks of outpatient therapy.The result has been that the addict goes in and out of treatment facilities, and eventually learns how to manipulate the system well enough to extend their drug career and their lives well past the average life expectancy of a street junkie. The system is broken.I was lucky enough to find a treatment plan that worked for me, having now been sober for almost two years. I have a treatment team that was able to address not only the addiction, but the mental health aspect of my addict brain. People often use drugs as a means to self-medicate underlying mental health problems that are sometimes temporary, but most often permanent.I haven't seen this film yet, but the research I have done has lead me to believe that it will address these issues and more. It's about time a film like this was made. I'm really excited to see it.Related website: Many Faces One Voice & The Anonymous People

Mark Twain said it beautifully, "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure. ” Oh, so true!I went to WalMart tonight to pick up some tea and ice cream (wonderful combo, I know), and was astonished at the level of happiness I saw in individuals who are very clearly and hopelessly ignorant. Now, I don't mean rude or stupid, although some of them could be, but I mean that they have no connection to the realities of humanity and the way it works. They seem to go along, very happily, as large, lazy, junk eaters who only gain amusement out of being confronted by the ways of the world and other people. I marveled at the lack of concern about what others must think of them, and stood in wonderment at the self checkout as a woman devoured a melted carton of Ben and Jerry's ice cream as she paid for her diabetic-coma-waiting-to-happen grocery bill with a food stamp card. She looked stress-free without a care in the world.Meanwhile, I can't leave the house if I haven't showered and made myself presentable, even if it's just a trip to WalMart. I need to see a therapist twice a week to work on issues that stem as far back as my single digit childhood years. I am always stressed, and even have panic attacks. This leaves me thinking I've been living this life devastatingly wrong, and I am surely missing out on some secret. The secret of not giving a shit. If someone could clue me in to this awesome way of living, please do so in the comments. Thank you in advance!

U.S. to Recognize Utah Gay Marriages Despite State StanceThe Obama administration on Friday said that it will recognize as lawful the marriages of 1,300 same-sex couples in Utah, even though the state government is refusing to do so. Wading into the fast-moving legal battle over same-sex marriage rights in one of America’s most socially conservative states, the administration posted a video on the Justice Department’s website. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said that the federal government will grant federal marriage benefits to the same-sex couples who had rushed to obtain marriage licenses after a federal judge last month unexpectedly struck down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage. “I am confirming today that, for purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages,” Mr. Holder said in the video. “These families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their status as the litigation unfolds.”Click the article title for full coverage by the New York Times. My feeling is one of cautious optimism. I think it's great that the U.S. government is going to step in and recognize these marriages, but I'm afraid how this will be viewed by those who advocate state sovereignty. That aside, I think our country is heading in the right direction in terms of recognizing the rights of homosexuals in general. When is Pennsylvania going to join the party?

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About Me

My name is Nicholas Emeigh, but everyone calls me Nick, and I prefer it. I'm usually called Nicholas when I'm in trouble. I'm from the Philadelphia area, work in business, and fancy myself as a freelance graphic designer, writer, and artist. I have a passion for art in all its forms including music, but I restrict my singing to the shower and the car for the good of society. If you'd like to know more, just send me an e-mail. I really appreciate you stopping by.